Iran rules out unnecessary face-to-face negotiations with US in Vienna

Iran’s top security official has ruled out holding direct talks with the United States during the ongoing sanctions removal talks in Vienna, emphasizing that no face-to-face discussion has been or will be held between Iranian and American diplomats in the course of the talks.

“So far, [our] contacts with the US delegation in Vienna have been through exchanging non-papers. Neither has there been nor will there be a need for more,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

However, Shamkhani said that such a communication method between Tehran and Washington could be replaced by other methods if a “good agreement” is within reach in the Austrian capital.

Iran and the remaining participants to the JCPOA have been holding talks in Vienna since April last year with the aim of reviving the deal by bringing the US into full compliance.

Due to the latest developments, many observers now believe that the talks are advancing at an optimal pace and if all sides act realistically, a final agreement could be achieved within a logical time interval.

Tehran has not allowed the US to attend the negotiations due to its withdrawal from the JCPOA and its failure to remove its anti-Iran sanctions. As a result, the other participants are conducting shuttle diplomacy between the two sides.

SS